SUPERMARKET company Iceland is to axe its loss-making internet and telephone home shopping service later this month as it struggles to turn around the underperforming business.

The closure of the service from April 23 will account for about 100 of the 400 administrative jobs being shed at Iceland's head office on Deeside Industrial Park.

The redundancies, at one of the biggest employers in north east Wales, were announced last month and represent a third of the workforce at the site.

Loss of the internet service is a u-turn for chief executive Malcolm Walker, who launched the home shopping business and re-branded the whole business Iceland.co.uk before being ousted as chairman four years ago.

Mr Walker said: "Iceland pioneered home shopping in the UK, becoming the first food retailer to launch a nationwide service in 1999.

"However, it is a loss-making operation and one in which we simply cannot justify further investment of either money or management time.

"Our core business is also performing badly and the focus of the new senior management team must clearly be on turning that round."

Closure of the internet/telephone home shopping service will not affect Iceland's free home delivery service for customers who spend more than £25 in-store.

Mr Walker added: "We know that the service our customers really value is the home delivery of goods bought in-store, and the closure of the internet and telephone ordering facility will free more delivery slots to meet this strong demand."

He rejoined the company after Icelandic retail investor Baugur took over frozen food chain Iceland's parent Big Food Group in February.

He led a consortium which took control of Iceland months after being cleared of insider trading following his controversial sale of shares in the company just before a series of profit warnings.

On his return, he said annual turnover was £400m less than in 2000 and like-for-like sales were down 10%.

Mr Walker said that since he left Iceland in 2001, there had been a "huge increase" in the number of people employed at head office and overheads had increased by around £40m.